


there are pieces i usually hide

by boston_sized_city



Category: The AM Archives (Podcast), The Bright Sessions (Podcast), The College Tapes (Podcast)
Genre: Autistic Oliver Ritz, Established Relationship, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 20:41:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28712961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boston_sized_city/pseuds/boston_sized_city
Summary: mark has a surprise date planned, oliver's only goal is to make it through without ruining it.
Relationships: Mark Bryant/Oliver Ritz
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	there are pieces i usually hide

**Author's Note:**

> title from ease my mind by ben platt

“Seriously, Byron, where are we going?” Oliver drummed on his legs, watching out the window. As they got further away from the familiar neighborhood, his nerves spiked. The sky was only getting darker, and the city was starting to fade.

Mark hummed, stopping at a sign for a moment before turning onto yet another dark road, getting only further away from actual civilization. “It’s a  _ surprise,  _ babe, if I tell you, that ruins the whole point.”

Oliver looked back at him and pouted. He didn’t like not knowing things. He got it, sure, of course he did. Surprises had their appeal. Didn’t mean he liked it.

But he stayed silent for the rest of the ride, back to staring out the window. His hands pulled nervously at his jeans, but he tried his best to ignore them.

The car stopped, suddenly, and Oliver looked up. He tried to look back out the car window, to see where they were. It was dark, save for the part lit up by Mark’s headlights.

There was a building ahead of them, about the size of a log cabin. It looked like a miniature movie theatre. He could tell from where he was that there was a large field behind it.

“We’re here,” Mark said, and Oliver heard the sound of him unbuckling as he opened the door. 

“Where is here?” Oliver got out, looking around now that he could get a better look. He squinted at the building. “‘Drive-In Cinema?’” he read, glancing back at Mark over the hood of the car.

Mark stretched and turned off the car as he walked around to where Oliver was standing, now only illuminated by the lights coming off the building. “Yeah. Cool, right?”

“It looks closed. Byron, is this illegal?”

It did. They were the only ones there, besides one car in the staff parking lot right by them. When Oliver found the large screen standing in the field behind the main building, it was dim and looked off. 

“It’s not closed, and it’s not illegal, I promise.” He looked back at Mark, who was grinning, and frowned. “Seriously, it’s going to be great, everything is  _ fine,  _ and you need to relax.” Mark touched his hand, and then held it when Oliver didn’t pull away. “I promise,” he repeated. “Okay?”

Oliver relaxed slightly. “Okay.”

He relaxed a little more, smiling, when Mark lifted his hand and gently kissed his knuckles. “Now stop worrying so much, I have never once gotten us in trouble with the law.”

“Uh, that’s  _ so _ not true, remember-” He couldn’t finish his sentence as Mark laughed and started dragging him towards the building which was apparently  _ not  _ closed.

The door was unlocked, that was a good sign. Mark held it open like the gentleman he was, and then followed Oliver inside.

The building was empty. Oliver looked over at Mark with a frown, about to say something when a cheery voice said, "Mark Bryant?"

"Uh, yeah, hi." Mark nudged Oliver's arm, and he looked forward. At the front desk, a woman had appeared. She looked about Mark's age, maybe slightly younger. She was smiling brightly at them. “Is everything ready?” Mark asked, sounding slightly anxious.

“Yep!” The girl typed something on the computer in front of her, and then disappeared under the desk. She popped back up, holding a key. “I’ll go unlock the gate,” she said, nodding her head a little to what she was saying. “You just wait here.”

Mark smiled and nodded, holding onto Oliver’s arm. He tugged on it a little when the employee left the building. “You could be friendlier,” he said, but his voice was light and teasing.

“Oh, what, would I be prettier if I smiled more?” Oliver looked at him and grinned a little, more relaxed now.

The other man matched his grin. “Yeah.”

Oliver picked up Mark’s hand, using it to hit his arm. “Ass,” he said fondly. Mark just smiled at him, leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. Oliver softened entirely at that, wrapping his arms around him to keep him up. “Why can’t you plan normal dates?”

“Because you hate those.” Mark’s scheming grin was back, and before Oliver could pull away from him, he kissed his nose and ducked under his arms to move to the other side of the room.

Oliver rolled his eyes. He bit his smile back; That would only encourage Mark, which maybe wasn’t the worst thing, but being  _ vulnerable  _ might have been. “I can’t stand you,” he said, shaking his head.

“Mm, yeah, is that why you told me you loved me yesterday?” There was a happy sort of note to Mark’s voice.   
  
Absolutely insufferable. “I am never telling you anything ever again.” He would have said something else, though what he didn’t know, but the door to the building opened again, and he went quiet.

The young employee smiled brightly at them. “The gate is open, you’re all set! Don’t forget to come back when you’re done so I can lock up!”

Mark nodded and thanked her again once before dragging Oliver outside and back to the car. He opened the door for him, like a proper gentleman. “M’Oliver.”

“Really?” Oliver smiled a little, rolling his eyes. He got in the car and sat back against the seat. He looked up at Mark and relaxed into a normal smile when he leaned down to kiss him.

It was a few seconds before Mark stood back up, his hand on the car door. “I promise, you’re going to love this, okay?”

He didn’t give Oliver any time to answer, shutting the door and going back around to the other side of the car. He got in and started the car, pulling out of the driveway onto the smaller road that led into the back field.

He parked the car in the grass and turned it off. He looked over at Oliver. “Do you want to sit on the roof or the hood?” he asked.

Oliver thought. Not for too long, because he still didn’t really understand what was happening- A drive-in cinema, he knew what that was. But he didn’t know what they were  _ doing  _ here. The screen wasn’t playing anything yet, and they were the only ones in the field. “Whatever you want.”

“This is for you, Oliver,” Mark said in a slightly scolding tone, opening his door. “Roof’s probably better,” he added after a second, with a small sigh.

“Roof, then.” Oliver shrugged slightly. He really didn’t care, it wasn’t like he knew enough of what was going on to weigh the outcome of either choice. He got out of the car and got up onto the roof. They’d sat up there enough that he’d mastered getting up with no problem.

It took about an extra minute for Mark to join him, and he was holding a large blanket- probably from the trunk. He sat up next to Oliver and held out the blanket. “Cold yet?”

“No,” Oliver lied, pulling the blanket around himself and scooting closer against Mark’s side. He felt Mark’s arm go around his waist, and relaxed in his hold. “Thank you,” he said quietly.

"You're welcome." Mark leaned his head on his. He let himself smile, closing his eyes for a moment.

Mark squeezed his hand suddenly, and he looked up. "Hey, movie's starting."

Oliver looked up at the large screen set up in the middle of the field. Sure enough, it had lit up with color and motion. The opening credits started playing, and he realized what movie it was.

_ Wizard of Oz. _ He'd mentioned once, offhandedly, that he'd always wanted to watch it, but had never found the time before and then just… never got to it. He couldn't believe Mark remembered.

As the opening music played, he felt that weird, tense feeling in his hands as excitement built up in his chest. He tried to hold his hands still, but the feeling was too much, too loud. He shifted away from Mark, shaking out his hands at his sides under the blanket as he watched. The tense feeling subsided. 

He glanced over once, to see if Mark was enjoying the movie, too, but Mark was looking at him, frowning. He stilled his hands, his arms tensing as he did. "What?"

"Are you okay?" Mark asked him, and he wanted to cry.

"I'm fine," he said tightly. "You're not watching the movie." It was harsher than he'd wanted.

Mark blinked, like he hadn't expected him to respond like that. "Okay, I just- Okay. I'm sorry."

He looked back at the screen, and Oliver felt a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry," he said. Mark shook his head, not looking over. His focus was on the movie. "Mark?" He hated how small his voice came out.

"I'm trying to watch the movie."

It was a physical pain, the one that hit Oliver. His hands stung, an awful feeling going through his fingers and up his palms to his arms. He shivered, but he didn't know why. "I'm going to sit in the car," he said, and didn't bother waiting for an answer before he tossed the blanket to Mark and slid off of the roof.

"Oliver." Mark slid off after him, holding the blanket. "That was harsh, I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry I moved," Oliver said, at almost the same time. He swallowed, fixing his glasses and taking a breath. "I didn't want to bother you."

"Bother me?" Mark looked confused, and worried.

Oliver scratched at his wrist. "The movie- I just got so excited. And I always move when I get excited, I didn't want to hit you or move too much, and I didn't-"

"You didn't want me to know," Mark said quietly. "Oliver, it's  _ okay _ . I told you, you can stim around me, it doesn't bother me."

He was back to wanting to cry, for different reasons now. "It's such a stupid thing to get excited about," he said.

"It is not, c'mere." Mark practically jumped to hug him, wrapping the blanket around them both. He stayed there for a moment before pulling back and looking up at Oliver. "Can we please go back to the movie now? I can't pause it."

Oliver nodded, and they sat on the hood this time, Mark resting comfortably in Oliver's lap, holding his hands as they watched the movie.


End file.
